‘India Skills Kerala 2018’ Central Zone Competitions Begin

CHALAKUDY:
The four-day Central Zone competitions of ‘India Skills Kerala, 2018’, jointly organised by the Industrial Training Department and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), were formally launched here today during which 164 contestants would exhibit their skills in various trades and compete for recognitions and prizes.
B D Devassy, MLA, while inaugurating the competitions at Government ITI here, said the state government has proposed to upgrade ten ITIs, including the Chalakudy Government ITI, to international standards. More infrastructure facilities would be provided at these ITIs, he added.
Devassy thanked the authorities for selecting Chalakudy ITI as one of the venues for the Central Zone competitions. He also congratulated the students for securing 700 placements in a recent job fair. The Central Zone competitions include participants from various ITIs from Palakkad, Idukki, Thrissur, Kottayam and Ernakulam. The other venues of the Central zone competitions are Mala, Kalamassery, Ettumanoor and Pallikathodu.
There are a total of 164 participants in the Central Zone competitions, which will conclude on April 14. They are competing across 20 categories ranging from Carpentry, Welding, Electronics and Refrigeration to Fashion Technology, Graphic Design, 3D Digital Game Art and Mobile Robotics.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by Jayanthi Praveenkumar, Chairperson, Chalakudy Municipality. Saji KB, Inspector of Training, Ernakulam, presented the report. Felicitation speeches were given by Bindhu Shashikumar, Ward Councillor, Chalakudy Municipality; Prashanth Menon, Representative, Kerala Private ITI Management Association; Premkumar KS, PTA President, Chalakudy ITI; Amal Gopi, Chairman, Trainees Council; and Naveen S, Staff Secretary.
Dharmarajan KS, Additional Director of Training, welcomed the gathering while Starry Paul, Principal, Govt. ITI, Chalakudy, proposed a vote of thanks.
The Zonal competitions are being held in North, Central and South zones. The participants in these competitions are winners from the district-level competitions.
Winners and runners-up of each trade from the three zones will compete in the grand finale to be held at Marine Grounds, Kochi from April 28 to 30. Cash prizes worth Rs 38 lakh will be given to the participants and winners. The winner of the state-level competitions will be awarded a sum of Rs one lakh and the runner up Rs. 50,000.